Lost Innocents Read Online Free Page A

said.
    “Hello, Mother,” the girl said sullenly.
    Mary Beth looked critically at the teenager in front of her. Heather, she thought, took after Frank’s side of the family. She had a face as round and white as a plate, with small, pale gray eyes and lank, drab hair that fell to her shoulders. Her figure was good, but not because she did anything to maintain it. If any effort were required, she’d be fat as a house, Mary Beth thought. Heather’s clothes did little to enhance her figure; she was wearing baggy overalls with one shoulder unbuttoned over a Henley-style shirt that looked like long underwear. Her unlaced high-top sneakers completed her resemblance to someone who lived in a homeless shelter. No matter how often Mary Beth offered to take her shopping or tried to show her how to use makeup, Heather stubbornly insisted on choosing the most unbecoming outfits. Although she had tried to appear supportive, Mary Beth had not been surprised when the judge dismissed the charges against that teacher. With all the pretty high school girls, why would any man hit on a plain, surly creature like Heather?
    “I’ll be with you in a minute,” Mary Beth said, trying to maintain a semblance of professionalism. “Why don’t you take a seat over there?”
    Heather regarded her with narrowed eyes. For a fleeting moment, Mary Beth felt a little guilty. She had promised Heather she would be done, but then this couple had come in. Heather just didn’t understand that you had to seize the opportunity when it presented itself. “We have some new magazines,” Mary Beth suggested, and felt irritated at having to sound like a receptionist. That’s how she’d started out in this office, and she had zero interest in going back to it.
    Heather shuffled over to the reception area, dropped into one of the tapestry-covered armchairs, and began flipping through a magazine.
    “This one looks nice,” the young man said hopefully to his disgruntled wife.
    Mary Beth turned her head to look at the picture of a newly painted Cape Cod. “Oh yes, that one is adorable. And there’s really a lot you could do with it.”
    “Maybe we should look at it,” he said. His wife made a face.
    Mary Beth’s phone rang. “Take a look at some more while I get this,” she said. As she picked up the phone she saw Heather rise from her seat and begin to pace the reception area, glancing up at the clock.
    “Mary Beth Cameron,” she sang into the phone. “How can I help you?”
    “We have to go, Mother,” Heather announced. Mary Beth gestured helplessly for Heather to sit back down, but Heather ignored her.
    “You told me yourself we have to be there by six,” Heather continued in her impassive, foghorn voice. “I’m sick of waiting. We have to go right now.”
    Mary Beth cupped her hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “I said I’ll be right with you,” she whispered angrily. She glanced at her clients. Fortunately the young couple was absorbed in the ring binder of properties. They had turned back to the brick Colonial, and the wife was looking much more cheerful. On the phone, Mary Beth’s caller rattled on about rentals. Mary Beth nodded and turned away from her daughter’s cold gray gaze. Heather returned to the reception area and fell back into the chair with a thud. She glared straight ahead as Mary Beth got down to business.
    Frank Cameron, chief of the Taylorsville Police Department, shifted in his chair, looked at his watch, and shook his head in disgust. “I have work to do. I am a busy man. She knows I have a million things to do. She keeps me waiting on purpose.”
    “Heather?”
    “No, her mother,” Frank said scornfully.
    Dr. Larry Foreman poured himself his tenth cup of coffee for the day and offered one to the chief. He had late office hours two nights a week, and sometimes he ended up skipping dinner altogether. Coffee was his substitute for food.
    “Nah, I don’t touch it after the morning jolt,” said Frank. “One